What You Don't Read in the Papers

[kandrathe]

:) Well, I guess I always refer to my idealized notion of what the UN should be, rather than what its become.

Anyway, I think we need some international collection of "responsible" nations to represent international decision making, and then have the will (power, spine) to follow through with their decisions. With enough wrangling and negotiation by the US, the Security Council (including Syria) unanimously agreed that Iraq had to cooperate fully and come clean with Hans Blix, Or Face Serious Consequences.

I'm sure everyone understood what serious consequences were at that time, but when it was clear, even with extension after extension of the deadlines, that Iraq was toying once again with the UN, our good friends and allies on the security council refused to follow through with their tough rhetoric. Maybe it was our heavy handed approach, or maybe it was their own selfish interests. Either way, they allowed the only international body to become a political circus which signaled every tyrannt of just how weak an institution it really has become. Want to commit genocide, develop WMD, or terrorize the world? It's easy, you just buy off some of the security council veto members with a lucritive oil contract.

IMHO, that whole UN situation was mishandled because it started with the premise that there existed a solution that would leave that Baathist Regime in power. Any scrutiny of the Bush administration and its stated goals and objectives left no room for a Baathist Iraq. This was a country that tried to assassinate a former US President. I'm not sure why that isn't considered a provocation for war. But you are right about them. All balls, no brains.